Many inventors – including many of those who have already received patents and have successfully sold their patented inventions, began the entire process with a search for a solution to a problem they want to solve. Such could be irritating personal problems, issues problematic for others or for a company with which the inventor comes into contact. Patents can solve problems and provide convenience, efficiency or savings. The aim is that the patent provides a solution better than that available at the time, for example, patents in the field of medicine, security, saving lives and more…
Ideas come to an inventor during the search for alternative solutions for problems faced. At this initial stage, the best approach is to plan out the idea conceptually and then transform it into a practical idea, or invention. After completing the conceptualization stage and examining the theoretical alternatives, the idea is transferred to the drawing board, where CAD (Computer Aided Design) software is used to create a computerized model, preferably, a three dimensional model. At this stage it is a good idea to have the drawings examined by a patent attorney, because the drawings and model will be attached to the request for patent at a later stage and they will form the basis for the drawing up of the request for patent. At the Patent Office, a patent examiner will examine the request for patent and will then prepare a patent examination report, expressing the examiner’s opinion regarding the request. Once this process has been completed and that can mean several rounds of back and forth between the patent examiner and the patent lawyer, if the examiner approves the request for patent, the inventor will be informed that the patent has been granted.
After the inventor receives the Certificate of Patent, the inventor can then begin to exercise the inventor’s rights to the patent and can begin selling, trading or commercially developing the solution to the problem that instigated the entire process. The inventor will now possess an advantage. Anyone breaching that patent could find themselves sued for breach of patent by the inventor or the patent holder because that is the way in which they can retain the commercial advantage granted by the patent, which is essentially, the patent holder’s license to retain a monopoly on the invention.